The hospitality industry has taken a colossal hit during the COVID pandemic. The damage to restaurant, café, pub and bar owners is undisputed, yet those who come through to the other side will still face substantial losses that they will want to recoup. However, there is a silver lining, and soon customers will be flocking when the world gets back to some kind of ‘normal’.
What can business owners and managers do to maximise profit, increase spending, and reduce losses when they welcome their customers again?
There will no doubt be numerous incentives to get diners and revellers out again. There are many nifty ways to reclaim and even increase post-COVID profits from improving footfall to up-selling to offers. Customers will be back in their droves, competing for customers service, the latest dishes and libations, and business will recover in the long term.
There is one innovative and cost-effective on-site solution, that can help them immediately.
Phil Dixon, a previous advisor to the BII, was adamant that “If you want to increase spend, you must retain cards.” A simple solution, and one that could be a quick and easy win, even in light of the pandemic. Paul Eagles, previous Head of Risk Policy and Strategy at VISA confirmed this by his statement, “When using cards, people spend at least 35% more.”
If cash is out of favour, and with contactless seemingly the safest option, how can retaining payment cards be safe?
Contactless may seem like the ideal solution, but it doesn’t suit the dine-in experience. It’s great on the fly and handy on the run, but it prevents leisurely and enjoyable hospitality experience. One that is sorely missed by customers.
The solution is CardsSafe. A system specifically designed to securely retain customer payment cards while the cardholder runs a tab or trials a product or service. The ‘behind the bar’ technology contains bank cards that enable customers to run a tab—allowing them to freely spend more, in the knowledge that the venue is treating the system like any other part of the venue by complying with strict guidelines.
Other benefits of CardsSafe include the ability to eliminate ‘dine & dash’ effectively. In a time of financial downturn, these walkouts could become even more disastrous. If the payment card is requested on taking an order and is safely retained in the CardsSafe units, there is no chance for such a risk.
CardsSafe is also remarkably affordable at just under £10 per month rental per unit, meaning that up to 10 cards can be stored at once, and multiple units can be added to suit. It not only pays for itself, it helps increase profit levels in the hospitality industry.
Furthermore, the CardsSafe system safeguards customers against credit card fraud and identity theft because no one, bar the staff, can access their cards whilst they are stored in the units.
Major brands trust CardsSafe in the leisure and hospitality industries, including Young’s pubs, Hilton Hotels, dozens of golf courses across the UK and art galleries. Protecting their assets as well as their customers, it is an important asset to these industries.
Food and Beverage Operations Manager, Grant Rumbelow from The London Golf Club explains, “CardsSafe has been a welcome addition to the London Golf Club. We utilise the system in our Golf Shop and Spike Bar, and on-course with our Drinks Buggy. With CardsSafe, we can safely store customers’ cards whilst they enjoy their round of golf.”
Over a period of market research and trial, data has shown that card spend went up 25% on average as customers spent at least 30% more when using the CardsSafe system. The bottom line is when you can welcome customers again, if you want to increase spend and eliminate ‘dine & dash’, you must retain cards and the best place to store these is in a CardsSafe® unit.
For more information on how CardsSafe can help your business, please visit www.cardssafe.com
Or contact the sales team on 0845 500 1040 or sales@cardssafe.com